The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, near its
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single
geomorphological
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...
unit and low mountain range of around in area. It runs in a north-northeast direction from the
Burgundian Gate
The Belfort Gap ( ) or Burgundian Gate ( ) is the area of relatively flat terrain in Eastern France between the Vosges Mountains to the north and the Jura Mountains to the south. It marks the watershed between the drainage basins of the River R ...
(the
Belfort
Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...
–
Ronchamp
Ronchamp () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
It is located between the Vosges and the Jura mountains.
Mining Museum
Mining began in Ronchamp in the mid-18th century and had ...
Winnweiler
Winnweiler is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Alsenz, approx. north-east of Kaiserslautern. Winnweiler is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collectiv ...
Göllheim
Göllheim () is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated north of the Palatinate forest, approx. 25 km west of Worms. It was the site of the 1298 Battle of Göllheim.
Göllheim is the seat of ...
line), and forms the western boundary of the
Upper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...
.
The
Grand Ballon
The Grand Ballon () or Great Belchen is the highest mountain of the Vosges, located northwest of Mulhouse, France. It is also the highest point of the Grand-Est French region.
Name
''Grand Ballon'' means "great ound-toppedmountain" becaus ...
is the highest peak at , followed by the Storkenkopf (), and the Hohneck ().
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
Geographically, the Vosges Mountains are wholly in France, far above the
Col de Saverne
The Col de Saverne (Pass of Saverne or Saverne Pass, ) is a natural pass in the north of the Vosges mountains, near Saverne, which permits travel between the départements of Bas-Rhin and Moselle, and therefore between Alsace and Lorraine.
Transp ...
separating them from the Palatinate Forest in Germany. The latter area logically continues the same Vosges geologic structure but traditionally receives this different name for historical and political reasons. From 1871 to 1918 the Vosges marked for the most part the border between Germany and France, due to the Franco-Prussian War. The elongated
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
is divided south to north into three sections:
* The Higher Vosges or High VosgesDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A Regional and Economic Geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 540. . (''Hautes Vosges''), extending in the southern part of the range from Belfort to the river valley of the Bruche. The rounded summits of the Hautes Vosges are called ''ballons'' in French, literally "balloons".
* The
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
Vosges or Middle Vosges (), between the Permian Basin of Saint-Die including the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
-
Dinantian
Dinantian is the name of a series or epoch from the Lower Carboniferous system in Europe. It can stand for a series of rocks in Europe or the time span in which they were deposited.
The Dinantian is equal to the lower part of the Mississippian s ...
volcanic massif of Schirmeck-Moyenmoutier and the Col de Saverne
* The Lower Vosges or Low Vosges (), commonly known as North Vosges, a sandstone plateau ranging from to high, between the Col de Saverne and the source of the
Lauter
Lauter may refer to:
People
* Lauter (surname)
Places
*Lauter, Saxony, town in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany
* Lauter, Bavaria, village in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Rivers
* Lauter (Baunach), tributary to th ...
.
In addition, the term "Central Vosges" is used to designate the various lines of summits, especially those above in elevation. The French department of Vosges is named after the range.
Geology
From a geological point of view, a
graben
In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...
at the beginning of the
Paleogene
The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...
period caused the formation of
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and the uplift of the bedrock plates of the Vosges, in eastern France, and those in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, in Germany. From a scientific view, the Vosges Mountains are not mountains as such, but rather the western edge of the unfinished Alsatian graben, stretching continuously as part of the larger Tertiary formations. Erosive
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
action was the primary catalyst for development of the
highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
massif feature.
The Vosges in their southern and central parts are called the ''Hautes Vosges''. These consist of a large
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
mountain eroded just before the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
Period with
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
,
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
s,
porphyritic
Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning all ...
masses or other volcanic intrusions. The north, south and west parts are less eroded by glaciers, and here Vosges
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
and Permian red
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
remains are found in large beds. The ''grès vosgien'' (a French name for a Triassic rose sandstone) are embedded sometimes up to more than in thickness. The Lower Vosges in the north are dislocated plates of various sandstones, ranging from high.
The Vosges are very similar to the corresponding range of the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
since both lie within the same degrees of latitude, have similar geological formations and are characterized by forests on their lower slopes, above which are open pastures and rounded summits of a rather uniform altitude. Both areas exhibit steeper slopes towards the
and a more gradual descent on the other side. Both the Vosges and the Black Forest were formed by isostatic uplift in response to the opening of the
Rhine Graben
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
, a major extensional basin. When such basins form, the thinning of the crust causes uplift immediately adjacent to the basin, decreasing with distance from the basin. Thus, the highest range of peaks rises immediately adjacent to the basin and increasingly lower mountains rise further from the basin.
Mountains
The highest points are in the ''Hautes Vosges'': the
Grand Ballon
The Grand Ballon () or Great Belchen is the highest mountain of the Vosges, located northwest of Mulhouse, France. It is also the highest point of the Grand-Est French region.
Name
''Grand Ballon'' means "great ound-toppedmountain" becaus ...
, in ancient times called ''Ballon de Guebwiller'' or ''Ballon de Murbach,'' rises to ; the Storckenkopf to ; the Hohneck to ; the
Kastelberg
The Kastelberg is the fourth highest summit of the Vosges Mountains. It is located on the former border between the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine.
Etymology
In German ''Kastelberg'' means ''mountain of the castle''.
Geography
The m ...
to ; and the
Ballon d'Alsace
The Ballon d'Alsace german: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, vi ...
to . The Col de Saales, between the Higher and Central Vosges, reaches nearly , both lower and narrower than the Higher Vosges, with
Mont Donon
Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France.
On Donon, there is an 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission. Its TV transmission antennas are covered by a polymeric cylinder, which ...
at being the highest point of this Nordic section.
The highest mountains and peaks of the Vosges (with Alsatian or German names in brackets) are:
*
Grand Ballon
The Grand Ballon () or Great Belchen is the highest mountain of the Vosges, located northwest of Mulhouse, France. It is also the highest point of the Grand-Est French region.
Name
''Grand Ballon'' means "great ound-toppedmountain" becaus ...
Kastelberg
The Kastelberg is the fourth highest summit of the Vosges Mountains. It is located on the former border between the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine.
Etymology
In German ''Kastelberg'' means ''mountain of the castle''.
Geography
The m ...
Rainkopf
The Rainkopf is one of the highest summits of the Vosges Mountains. It is located on the border between the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine. Not faraway from its summit is located a mountain hut called ''Refuge "Louis Hergès" au Rainkopf'' ...
Petit Ballon
The Petit Ballon (german: Kleiner Belchen) or Little Belchen,Chevrier, Jean-François. ''From Basel - Herzog & de Meuron'', Basel: Birkhäuser, 2016, p. 54. is, at 1272m, one of the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains in the department of Haut-R ...
(''Kahler Wasen'' or ''Kleiner Belchen'')
*
Ballon d'Alsace
The Ballon d'Alsace german: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, vi ...
Ballon de Servance
Ballon may refer to:
Places
* Ballon, County Carlow (''Balana'' in Irish), a village in Ireland
*Grand Ballon, the apex of the Vosges Mountains in France
*Ballon, Charente-Maritime, France
*Ballon, Sarthe, France
Others
* Ballon (ballet), the ap ...
(highest point in the département of
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Drumont
* Planche des Belles Filles
* Molkenrain
* Champ du Feu (''Hochfeld'' or ''Firstfeld'')
* Baerenkopf
* Rocher de Mutzig (''Mutzigfelsen'')
*
Donon
Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France.
On Donon, there is an 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission. Its TV transmission antennas are covered by a polymeric cylinder, which ...
Climont
Climont, formerly called "Clivemont" in Old French, and "Winberg" in Old Alsatian, is a conical sandstone peak of the Vosges mountains. The mountain, with a cut-off shape, is known from afar by walkers and modern-day travellers.
Situated today i ...
Tête du Coquin
Tête, head in French, may refer to :
* Tête (sculpture), ''Tête'' (sculpture), a 1912 work of art by Amedeo Modigliani; one of the most expensive sculptures ever sold
* "Je danse dans ma tête", a 1991 song from the Dion chante Plamondon album ...
*
Mont Saint-Odile
Mont may refer to:
Places
* Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state
* Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium
* Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France
* Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France
* Mont, Sa ...
(''Odilienberg'')
*
Dabo
is a Japanese hip-hop rapper. He first appeared on the Japanese hip-hop scene in the 1990s, collaborating in a Shakkazombie song, ''"Tomo ni ikkou"''. Since 2002, he has released three albums: ''Hitman'' (2002), ''Diamond'' (2003), and ''The Fo ...
(''Dagsburg'')
*
Grand Wintersberg
At , the Grand Wintersberg (german: Großer Wintersberg) is the highest hill in the North Vosges in Alsace, France.
The Grand Wintersberg lies about four kilometres northwest of Niederbronn-les-Bains. The massif separates the valleys of the Fa ...
nature park
A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...
s lie within the Vosges: the
Ballons des Vosges Nature Park
The Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges'') is a protected area of woodland, pasture, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the regions of Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté i ...
and the
Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park
The Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord'') is a protected area of woodland, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the region Grand Est in northeastern France. The area was officially des ...
. The Northern Vosges Nature Park and the
Palatinate Forest Nature Park
The Palatinate Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Pfälzerwald) lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate For ...
on the German side of the border form the cross-border
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
-designated
Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve
The Franco- German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen, french: Réserve de biosphère transfrontalière des Vosges du Nord-Forêt palatine) was created in 1998 as the first UNESCO ...
.
In the late 20th century, a wide area of the massif was included in two
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s, the
Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord
The Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord'') is a protected area of woodland, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the region Grand Est in northeastern France. The area was officially d ...
Foehn effect
A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range.
It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...
the difference between the eastern and western mean slopes of the range is very marked. The main air streams come generally from the west and southwest, so the Alsatian central plains just under the Hautes-Vosges receive much less water than the south-west front of the Vosges Mountains. The highlands of the
arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
of Remiremont receive as annual rainfall or snowfall more than of precipitation yearly, whereas some dry countryside near Colmar receives less than of water in the event of insufficient storms. The temperature is much lower in the west front of the mountains than in the low plains behind the massif, especially in summer. On the eastern slope economic vineyards reach to a height of ; on the other hand, in the mountains, it is a land of pasture and forest.
The only rivers in Alsace are the
Ill ILL may refer to:
* '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibra ...
coming from south Alsace (or Sundgau), and the Bruche d'Andlau and the Bruche which have as tributaries other, shorter but sometimes powerful streams coming like the last two from the Vosges Mountains. The rivers
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, Meurthe and Sarre and their numerous affluents all rise on the
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
side.
In the High Moselle and Meurthe basins,
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
s, boulders and polished rocks testify to the former existence of
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s which once covered the top of the Vosges. The mountain lakes caused by the original glacial phenomena are surrounded by pines,
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
es and
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
s, and green meadows provide pasture for large herds of cattle, with views of the Rhine valley, the Black Forest and the distant, snow-covered Swiss mountains.
History
The massif known in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as ''Vosago mons '' or ''Vosego silva'', sometimes ''Vogesus mons'', was extended to the vast woods covering the region. Later, German speakers referred to the same region as ''Vogesen'' or ''Wasgenwald''.
Over the centuries, settlement population density grew gradually, as was typical for a forested region. Forests were cleared for agriculture, livestock and early industrial factories (such as
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
works and
glassworks
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass.
Glass container ...
) and the
water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...
s used
water power
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...
. Concentrations of settlement and immigration took place and not only in areas where
minerals
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
were found. In the
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
area of the Lièpvrette valley, for example, there was an influx of Saxon miners and mining specialists. From time to time, wars, plagues and religious conflicts saw the depopulation of territories – in their wake it was not uncommon for people to be relocated there from other areas.
On the lower heights and buttresses of the main chain on the Alsatian side are numerous castles, generally in ruins, testifying to the importance of this crucial crossroads of Europe, violently contested for centuries. At several points on the main ridge, especially at Sainte Odile above
Ribeauvillé
Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...
(German: Rappoltsweiler), are the remains of a wall of unmortared stone with tenons of wood, about thick and high, called the ''Mur Païen'' (Pagan Wall). It was used for defence in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and
archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
, on 13 July 1794, the Vosges were the scene of the
Battle of Trippstadt
The Battle of Trippstadt was a relatively-minor French military action in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition. The clash between French Republican forces and the armies of Prussia and Habsburg Austria was fought over several days (1 ...
. From 1871 to 1918, they formed the main border line between France and the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. The demarcation line stretched from the
Ballon d'Alsace
The Ballon d'Alsace german: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, vi ...
in the south to
Mont Donon
Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France.
On Donon, there is an 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission. Its TV transmission antennas are covered by a polymeric cylinder, which ...
in the north with the lands east of it being incorporated into Germany as part of Alsace-Lorraine.
The Vosges saw extensive fighting during the world wars. During World War I, there was severe and almost continuous fighting in the mountains. During World War II in October 1944, there was a fierce battle between German forces and the U.S. 442nd Battalion, a segregated unit composed of second-generation Japanese Americans (Nisei), during which the 442nd charged straight up the mountain to rescue the 1st Battalion of the 36th Infantry, formerly the Texas Guard—also known as the "Lost Battalion"—who were cut off and stranded on the mountainside under heavy fire from the Germans. Two previous rescues failed. The 442nd suffered 800 casualties, rescued the Texans, and took the mountain. Brown, James Daniel, Facing the Mountain, a True Story of Japanese American Heroes in WWII (Viking, 2021), Chapter 18.
On 20 January 1992
Air Inter Flight 148
Air Inter Flight 148 was a scheduled passenger flight from Lyon Satolas Airport to Strasbourg Airport in France. On 20 January 1992, the Airbus A320 family, Airbus A320 operating the flight Controlled flight into terrain, crashed into the slop ...
crashed into the Vosges Mountains while circling to land at Strasbourg International Airport, killing 87 people.
Language
In pre-Roman times, the Vosges was empty of settlements or was colonized and dominated by the
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
. After the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
era,
Alemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
also settled in the east, and
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
in the northwest. Contrary to widespread belief, the main ridge of the Vosges coincided with the historical Roman-Germanic language boundary only in the southern Vosges. Old Romance (''Altromanisch'') is spoken east of the main ridge: in the valley of the Weiss around
Lapoutroie
Lapoutroie (; ; Welche: ''Lè Peutraille'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Haut-Rhin département
The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department ...
, the valley of Lièpvrette (nowadays also called the ''Val d'Argent''; "Valley of Silver"), parts of the canton of Villé valley (''Vallée de Villé'') and parts of the
Bruche valley
The Bruche () is a river in Alsace, in north-eastern France. It is a left-side tributary of the Ill, and part of the Rhine basin. It is 76.7 km long, and has a drainage basin of
720 km2.Wasgau
The Wasgau (german: Wasgau, french: Vasgovie) is a Franco-German hill range in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the French departments of Bas-Rhin and Moselle. It is formed from the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the north ...
, which lie north of the Breusch valley, fall within the Germanic-speaking area because, from
Schirmeck
Schirmeck () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
It is the location of the Alsace-Moselle Memorial museum.
The name of the town means "protected place". In Lorraine dialect it is called "Chermec".
T ...
the historical linguistic boundary turns to the northwest and runs between Donon and Mutzigfelsen heading for
Sarrebourg
Sarrebourg (; also , ; Lorraine Franconian: ; older la, Pons Saravi) is a commune of northeastern France.
In 1895 a Mithraeum was discovered at Sarrebourg at the mouth of the pass leading from the Vosges Mountains.
Geography
Sarrebourg is ...
(''Saarburg''). The Germanic areas of the Vosges mountains are part of the
Alemannic dialect
Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alamanni ("all men").
Distribution
Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxim ...
region and cultural area and, in the north, also part of the Frankish dialect region and cultural area. The Romance-speaking areas are traditionally part of the
Lorrain language
Lorrain is a language (often referred to as patois) spoken by now a minority of people in Lorraine in France, small parts of Alsace and in Gaume in Belgium. It is a langue d'oïl.
It is classified as a regional language of France and has the r ...
region in the west and the Frainc-Comtou region in the south. For a long time the distribution of languages and dialects basically correlated with the pattern of settlement movements. However, the switch from German to French as the
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
which took place between the 17th and the 20th century across the whole of Alsace was not accompanied by any further significant movements of population.
See also
*
Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park
The Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord'') is a protected area of woodland, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the region Grand Est in northeastern France. The area was officially d ...
*
Vosges and Jura coal mining basins
The Vosges and Jura coal mining basins are an area of France located between two mountain ranges, that has been shaped by four centuries of coal extraction from the 16th Century to the 20th Century. It includes four coal basins in three geographi ...
References
*
Further reading
General texts:
* René Bastien, ''Histoire de Lorraine'', éditions Serpenoise, Metz, 1991, 224 pages. (simple historic approach for children)
* Etienne Julliard, ''Atlas et géographie de l'Alsace et de la Lorraine'', Flammarion, 1977, 288 pages (a geogropher's view of this part of France who gives theirs waters to
Rhin
The Rhin is a long river in Brandenburg, Germany, right tributary to the river Havel. It flows through the city Neuruppin and several lakes. A few kilometres downstream from Rhinow it flows into the Havel, about upstream from where the Have ...
)
* Robert Parisot, ''Histoire de Lorraine (Meurthe, Meuse, Moselle, Vosges)'', Tome 1 à 4 et index alphabétique général, Auguste Picard éditeur, Paris, 1924. Anastaltic impression in Belgium by the éditions Culture et Civilisation, Bruxelles, 1978. (large and more sophisticated evenemential history)
* Yves Sell (dir.), ''L'Alsace et les Vosges, géologie, milieux naturels, flore et faune'', La bibliothèque du naturaliste, Delachaux et Niestlé, Lausanne, 1998, 352 pages. (global view of nature and land)
* Jean-Paul von Eller, ''Guide géologique Vosges-Alsace'', guide régionaux, collection dirigée par Charles Pomerol, 2° édition, Masson, Paris, 1984, 184 pages. (a precise geologic description)
List of majors periodicals concerning Lorraine and South Lorraine:
* ''Annales de l'Est (et du Nord)'', Nancy.
* ''Annales de la Société d'Émulation des Vosges'', Epinal, from 1826.
* ''Bulletin de la Société Philomatique Vosgienne'', Saint-Dié, from 1875 to 1999 (nowadays ''Mémoire des Vosges Histoire Société Coutumes'')
* Publications of the ''Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie lorraine'', Metz (from 1890, nowadays ''Les Cahiers Lorrains'', trimestrial review).
* Publications of the ''Société d'Histoire de la Lorraine &
Musée Lorrain
The Ducal Palace of Nancy (French: ''Palais ducal du Nancy'') is a former princely residence in Nancy, France, which was home to the Dukes of Lorraine. It houses the Musée Lorrain, one of Nancy's principal museums, dedicated to the art, hist ...
'', Nancy (Lotharingist wrintings since 1820, nowadays trimestrial périodical, ''Le Pays Lorrain'')
On the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
:
* ''Guide des sources de la Grande Guerre dans le département des Vosges'', Conseil général de Vosges, Epinal, 2008, 296 pages.
* Isabelle Chave (dir.) avec Magali Delavenne, Jean-Claude Fombaron, Philippe Nivet, Yann Prouillet, ''La Grande Guerre dans les Vosges : sources et état des lieux'', Actes du colloque tenu à Epinal du 4 au 6 septembre 2008, Conseil général des Vosges, 2009, 348 pages.
* "La guerre aérienne dans les Vosges. 1914–1919", ''Mémoire des Vosges H.S.C.'' édité par la Société Philomatique Vosgienne, ors série n°5, septembre 2009 68 pages.